New Delhi. Team India has reached the semi-finals of the World Cup for the first time after winning 7 matches in a row. On Sunday, India will face South Africa, who are second in the points table. This match will be played at the Eden Gardens Stadium in Kolkata. After Australia’s win against England, South Africa has also qualified for the knockouts. That means there is nothing to lose here for both the teams. India has a chance to be the table topper, while South Africa can also beat India to reach the top spot.
South Africa has performed brilliantly in this World Cup. Especially his batsmen have scored a mountain of runs in almost every match. In such a scenario, this match will be between India’s bowling and South Africa’s batting. A bad news has come for Team India before this match. Hardik Pandya is out of World Cup 2023 due to injury.
Africa scored 300 plus 5 times
However, Pandya has not been a part of Team India for the last three matches. In his absence, Team India played the last three matches with 5 bowlers and won all three. In two of these matches, India achieved success by batting first. However, the South African batsmen are wreaking havoc in the World Cup. Batting first, this team has scored 428, 311, 399, 382 and 357 runs.
Lack of a sixth bowler is India’s biggest weakness
That means the 300 plus mark has been crossed 5 times and each time the African team has won by more than 100 runs. In such a situation, Rohit will be questioned about playing-11. Because a 5-bowler strategy could prove costly against Africa’s desperate batsmen. In such a scenario, it remains to be seen whether Rohit will choose a playing XI keeping in mind this weakness or rest the key players after reaching the semi-finals?
Will Ashwin get a chance in Kolkata?
Only two World Cup 2023 matches have been played at the Eden Gardens ground in Kolkata so far and both have been low-scoring. In one case, the team batting first has won and in the other, the chasing team has won. In the last match played here, Pakistan chased down a target of 205 runs and won against Bangladesh. The wicket here is helping both spin and fast bowlers. If the fast bowlers have taken wickets here at a good strike rate, the spin bowlers have bowled more economically than the fast bowlers.
In such a situation, if Rohit Sharma wants, he can consider resting the fast bowler and playing R Ashwin. However, Team India will be eyeing the semi-finals as well. If India remains the topper in the table, they may face the fourth-placed team in the semi-finals. Currently, one of the teams between New Zealand and Pakistan looks set to finish fourth. In such a scenario, instead of facing Australia in the semi-finals, India will want to face either of these two teams. So, Rohit Sharma would hardly want to tamper with a winning combination. At least in the match against South Africa, this is likely to happen.
World Cup 2023 Live Update: 2 semi-final teams decided, India-South Africa to fight to be table topper
There is no room for change in India’s top-6. Rohit, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul have scored runs in this World Cup. Suryakumar Yadav will play the finisher in Hardik’s absence. Now it remains to be seen whether Rohit decides to rest any bowler or not.
India’s Probable Playing XI: Rohit Sharma (captain), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wicketkeeper), Suryakumar Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammad Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammad Siraj/R Ashwin.
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Tags: Hardik Pandya, India vs South Africa, R. Ashwin, Rohit Sharma, Team India, World Cup 2023
First published: November 5, 2023, 08:03 IST